Author archive
6 July 2010
This morning I took the bus up into the hills and the Qadisha Valley, which is the stronghold of the Maronite Christians. The bus was meant to be a fraction the price of the shared taxi but as the driver was on the phone when I boarded, I couldn’t confirm the price … so he […]
5 July 2010
The other Tripoli This morning I moved up the coast from Beirut to the second largest city, Tripoli (Trablous) … which bears the same name as the one in Gaddafi-land (Libya). The coastline is very built up along most of the way with high-rise apartments, beach clubs, factories etc. One thing I’m certain of is […]
4 July 2010
This morning I took my third trip to Baalbek … yes, it is that good … it is the most impressive Roman ruins I’ve been to (not that I’ve been to that many). The Lonely Planet says it outshines any of the Temples built in Rome itself. This has always been a poor and conservative […]
3 July 2010
Early Start I woke at about 4:30am due to my body clock being on Colombo time (2.5 hours earlier). I messed around until about 7am and took a sustaining breakfast of fuul at a nearby cafe … the Lebanese version here is different from the Yemeni. For a start, the broadbeans are mixed with chickpeas […]
2 July 2010
Bad start in Colombo I woke nice and early and showered for my 2 flights, the first being Emirates at 1005 to Dubai and then connecting to Beirut. I couldn’t find a taxi to the airport so took a tuktuk … which took 1 hour. It wasn’t hot but it was the early morning traffic […]
1 July 2010
Today I took the bus from Hikkaduwa to Colombo; it was easier than the train … I only had to walk out to the hotel gate and hail one down as opposed to having to take a tuktuk to the railway station at additional cost. It seemed too easy because I got on an air-conditioned […]
30 June 2010
This morning I took the bus down to Galle (pronounced “Gawl” in English but “Gaal-le” locally) which is less than half hour away. Things are very cheap here … the bus ride is about USD0.20 and meals are less than USD1 each. Galle has an old Fort dating back to the Portuguese, then Dutch then […]
29 June 2010
Sri Lanka Again Today I’m off on my second visit to Sri Lanka. There are a few reasons for my visit: Even though I’ve travelled extensively around Sri Lanka, I don’t have the true feel of the country and its people. We were in a rush as it was a 6-day stopover on the way […]
28 June 2010
My AUD32 flight (plus AUD67 of airport taxes and a little airline fees, making a grand total of AUD99) departed Melbourne on time at 0045. AirAsia and AirAsia X, being really cheap airlines attract first time flyers and people who are travelling internationally for the first time. I overheard the man in front of me […]
26 June 2010
The reason for stopping in Melbourne was to see my relatives … I hadn’t seen my aunt and my cousins for ten years. Lots have changed, both my cousins are now married with children. After exploring Melbourne during the day, I enjoyed dinner of Sarawak Laksa and Tapioca cake with the family. Very yummy.